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Saturday, 4 January 2014

You would have thought that one of the best games ever made, certainly
the best (depending on who you speak to) GTA game ever made to make an
appearance on Android over the Christmas period would have sparked far more fanfare
and media coverage? But sadly it seems to have slipped past many unnoticed for
one reason or another, yet it really shouldn’t have if you’re a fan of this
game as this port is by no means a half-arsed half-baked slapped together cash-in
for the portable market. It’s actually a well nurtured highly polished Android
port that makes good over its console versions in some surprising areas.

First and foremost then, just how does the Android version stack up
against the console versions in the graphics departments? Well, when I first played
the Android version the first thing I noticed was how crisp and sharp the
graphics looked, and how there was a distinct lack of jaggies present in this
version, everything the eye can see is smooth and defined. This was in stark
contrast to the Xbox version I was comparing it to where jaggies or blurriness
seemed to be ever present. In the Xbox version I had the choice between less
jaggies and more blurriness in composite 50 Hz, or a sharper picture and more
jaggies through a component lead at 480p. Here is where the Android version
comes out shining, as you get a super sharp picture (more so than on the Xbox
at 480p) but without any horrible noticeable jaggies present. As far as
graphical detail goes, I first thought that the Android version of San Andreas
would surly be closer to the PS2 original, but upon closer comparison I have
found that its actually on a par with the Xbox version which was slightly more
detailed over the PS2 original. In The Android version you can adjust the level
of graphical detail in the game to help it run smoother on less powerful
tablets, you can adjust the visual effects detail, resolution, draw distance,
shadows and car reflections. But with all these set to max, the Android version
without a doubt matches the Xbox version in the detail department. However one
effect it lacks over the console versions is the heat wobble in the daytime
sun, and I’m guessing this was taken out to give the game a cleaner sharper
look. Overall then the graphics in the Xbox version of the game has more
character and atmosphere about it, but at the cost of either jaggies,
blurriness or both while the Android version is the opposite having less
character and atmosphere yet is pin sharp with no jaggies or blurriness to
speak of.

Next up you’ll want to know just how well this massive game runs on a
capable tablet with the graphics settings maxed out. Well from my experience
there does seem to be slightly less NPCs and vehicles roaming about San
Andreas, but only slightly which would make the game run smother, but even on a
really capable device there can be some noticeable slowdown when there is a lot
of action onscreen. But fear not, follow these few simple steps and you should
see an increase in performance. Firstly you will want to turn off Bluetooth and
wireless on your tablet before playing the game, why? Well its simple, various
elements of your tablets OS will want to connect to the internet in the
background not to mention any other apps you have downloaded and this will eat
up valuable ram and processor resources. Secondly it’s best to reboot your
tablet and launch the game soon after it’s booted, this is the best way to
clear out and stop any apps and elements of the OS hogging ram and processor
space, don’t even bother using any cleaning apps to do this as they have
nothing on a clean reboot. These two simple steps will go along way to
improving overall performance and loading times even on the most powerful of
tablets.

Last but not least controls, just how well do touchscreen controls really
work in this game? Well the controls work extremely well and are very
responsive, moreover the way in which they have been implemented has had some
real thought put into them and I can’t see them ever been implemented better
than this on a touchscreen device. Having said that they do take some getting
used to, and even then they will always be rather maddening and at times frustrating
to use over using a normal controller as an input method. But fear not as you
can use a proper controller with this game as it’s supported by the Android
Moga controller, or you have the option of using a wired PS3 controller, either
way both options are a welcomed relief.

The Android version of San Andreas could have turned out to be a piss
poor cut-down port of the game, but instead Rockstar have bought the game over
to tablets whole and seemingly complete and have worked towards making many improvements
to the game in the process. But while there is a lot to love about the Android
version of the game, it lacks one crucial and very important element, without
which makes it less the sum of its parts, and that ladies and gentleman is
cheats. Yes that’s right, this version lacks the one thing most if not all
gamers will want to implement within the first half hour of gameplay; it’s the
first thing many gamers will think about upon booting the game. But anyone
trying to implement cheats through touchscreen, controller or keyboard inputs will
be very disappointed as none of the above mentioned will work. I’m not sure
just yet whether it’s a case that Rockstar has left the cheats out all
together, or they have not put a way to implement them into the game. Either
way it has been left up to the modding community to create apps and hacks to
get cheats to work, which in a game so synonymous with in-game cheats is quite
frankly a stupid situation for this game to be released in and a baffling
decision by Rockstar. Without wanting to download some dodgy APK from some website I have
never heard of I am sadly left with a brilliant version of San Andreas I can’t
use in-game cheats in, a game made for cheats that is. Which as good as this
game is and as much as I want to continue playing it, I honestly cant see
myself ever putting any more hours into this version over its console
counterparts until this issue with the cheats is resolved, so don’t go giving
up on that Xbox version just yet.